Soil salinization poses a critical threat to global agricultural productivity, ecosystem resilience, and regional resource sustainability. Primary and secondary salinization processes-driven by natural and anthropogenic factors-are intensifying under climate change and unsustainable land-use practices, jeopardizing food security and soil health in drylands. This viewpoint article synthesizes global research on the mechanisms governing soil salinization in drylands, evaluates spatial-temporal drivers of salt accumulation, and critically assesses advances in measuring, monitoring, and managing strategies. Emerging technologies are highlighted, including accurate monitoring using multi-source data fusion, advanced modeling techniques and multiscale full-cycle soil salinity simulation through digital twin technology, and integrated approaches combining hydraulic engineering, chemistry, biology, ecology, and nature-based solutions (NBS) to address soil salinization. Salinization management is a global priority for achieving SDG2. Integrating Earth's Critical Zone framework reveals salinization's cascading impacts on agroecosystems, urging synergistic adoption of nature-based solutions and precision agriculture. We emphasize sensor-driven soil health monitoring, salt-tolerant crop breeding, and policy frameworks that incentivize circular resource systems. Shifting from soil amelioration to salt-tolerant germplasm innovation, supported by multidisciplinary synergies, represents a strategically crucial pathway for transforming saline-alkali soils into climate-resilient agricultural assets, thereby securing national food security.